Merry Christmas, Stratfor

While L-tryptophanics were tucking in on Christmas day, private intelligence group Stratfor Global Intelligence was watching its reputation dissipate after online attackers copied e-mails and client lists.

On Christmas Eve, the attackers announced that they had broken into Stratfor’s systems and obtained access to 200 GB of e-mails.

They then extracted information, including Stratfor’s customer and donor lists along with credit card data on Pastebin.

Clients identified in the list include Goldman Sachs, derivatives trader MF Global, Apple, and the US Air Force.

The successful attack has been confirmed by Stratfor founder George Friedman in a letter reproduced at Zero Hedge.

While the Zero Hedge post captures IRC announcements made during the attack that link the break-in to Anonymous, the collective has posted a statement to Pastebin denying responsibility.

The statement attributes the attack to “Sabu”, stating that “Sabu and his crew are nothing more than opportunistic attention whores who are possibly agent provocateurs. As a media source, Stratfor's work is protected by the freedom of press, a principle which Anonymous values greatly.” ®